Month: September 2019

Some Huon Valley roads are not high above tidal water.

This is significant given that sea level rise has reached an astounding 5mm a year, and is likely to accelerate further.

Read a news story about the latest findings here. Here is the WMO report.

The road from from Huonville to Cygnet is already being cut off during floods, while the Huonville-to-Franklin route and Huonville-to-Judbury have low spots which will be a problem in future.

The report in the above link notes an acceleration in global warming, not unexpected given the vast increase in greenhouse gas output over the past 30 years.

Sea level rise will bring more flooding to Huonville. The Huon River floods quite regularly, and higher sea levels will worsen the effects.

Parts of some Huon roads will eventually go under during high tides.

Global warming and sea level rise will speed up further as Antarctic, Arctic and Greenland ice caps melt and the sea warms.

Check out polar ice melt trends here.

Road managers need to make plans, perhaps by creating future funds to pay for the required costly roadworks.

The stratospheric heat event continues, and may be the most intense yet experienced.

Heat to more than 70C above normal has been recorded in the stratosphere, and this will likely affect southern hemisphere weather soon.

Tasmania could cop severe cold blasts, while mainland Australia could be extremely dry this summer.

Blue Skies Weather forecaster Tony Trewinnard​ said: “Temperatures at 30km are in single digits and that’s 50, 60, 70C warmer than normal at that altitude. That is quite bizarre.

“We may find the spring season as a whole turns out cold, or summer is. It isn’t affecting our (NZ) weather patterns here yet, but basically it will only be a matter of time.”

Noll said the sudden stratospheric warming was a “climate driver”.

“It influences weather patterns over weeks to months but isn’t a predictor of day-to-day weather,” he said.

“It can and will influence patterns during October and, given the longevity of the event, it may be a player into November. So it’s not over yet.”

https://www.stuff.co.nz/science/115841066/extremely-rare-stratospheric-warming-shows-no-sign-of-ending

This interactive graphic by Climate Central should remove any doubts about current temperature trends.

It shows hot and cold temp records over the past century in American cities.

Spend 10 minutes with it and you’ll better understand our future. It’s the most recent 20 years you’ll be noticing.

A severe stratospheric warming event over the South Pole could have big implications for Tasmanian weather, see the story here.

This story and this story explain it further.